Photo By: Elin Chow

Back in October 2018, I submitted my application for permanent Residency (PR) in Malaysia and I was given a date for an interview at the immigration office in January 2019. I have attended the interview with my husband last week at Jalan Duta immigration office, the branch where I have applied my Long Term Social Visit Pass (LTSVP) and submitted my PR application.

We were asked  to bring along all the original documents listed in the PR application checklist on the day of the interview. This is simply for the interviewing officer to verify your documents.

Original Documents Required

Below are some of the original documents required (but may vary case to case):

- Old and new passports (applicant)
- Birth certs (applicant and Malaysian)
- Malaysia marriage cert
- Overseas marriage cert (if you registered overseas)
- Malaysian sponsor's MyKad
- Proof of residence (water or electricity bill)
- Security bond receipt
- Children's MyKad & birth cert
- Children's passport

Photocopies are not required as we have already submitted them during the application. To be honest, I was feeling really nervous about the interview as I could not communicate well in Bahasa Melayu. There are very little information available on the internet, so we really have no idea what kind of questions they would ask.

The Interview

We were slightly late on the day of the interview as we were caught in a traffic jam. It was quite an unlucky day for us because we have difficulty finding a parking space at the immigration office too. But luckily, the interviewing officer did not penalize us for being late.

The interviewing officer is a very friendly Malay lady who greeted us warmly with a bright smile upon our arrival. She asked my husband whether I could understand or speak Bahasa Melayu. He answered that I could only understand the language in a basic way. She smiled and asked for the original documents.

She briefly checked the original documents against the photocopied documents that we have submitted last year before proceeding to ask more questions. Below are some of questions she have asked:

- Personal information like phone number and address
- Occupation and monthly income
- Our marriage date
- How long we dated before getting married
- Where and how did we met each other
- The reason for applying permanent residency in Malaysia

My husband answered most of the questions and all I did was smile and nod my head. The interviewer officer was pleased with the answers and we were glad that we were not penalized for my inability to speak the Malaysian language. It seems that as long as one of us is able answer the questions in Bahasa Melayu, we will be safe.

The interview lasted about 10 minutes. It was short but pretty smooth sailing. At the end of the interview, we were to told to wait for the interview invitation from the police. The police should call either one of us anytime in the next 6 months.

While waiting for the call from the police, we are allowed to travel abroad. She mentioned that a lot of people thought that they are not allowed to travel overseas during this period, which is not true. We can still travel anywhere as we like. If we did not receive any phone call from the police in the next 6 months, we could call the person-in-charge to inquiry about the status. Also, we have to make sure that we continue to renew my LTSVP until my PR application is approved. If not, I will not be able to stay here.

We were told that if the police interview went on smoothly, they will then proceed to submit my application to Putrajaya for processing. Since we registered our marriage in Malaysia, it will be easier for me to get PR in Malaysia. My application will probably take 2-3 years to get the result, which is considered quite fast. But I doubt it will be "easier" just like what we were told because it was never easy. Well, unless I am really the lucky one. 

So I guess now I could only wait and pray with all my heart that luck will be on my side. I shall update about my police interview in another post again once I have done that. Please note that everything I have shared in this post is solely based on my personal experience. Each immigration offices in Malaysia or interviewing officers would have different set of questions or rules for PR interview. So please use this post as a reference only.

For foreign spouse who plans to marry and reside in Malaysia on a long term basis, you may wish to learn more about the following topics too. If you are interested to know how to:

1. Register your marriage in Malaysia: Marrying A Malaysia Part 1

2. Apply for a Long Term Social Visit Pass (Spouse pass) with a work endorsement: Marrying A Malaysian Part 2: Obtaining A Long Term Social Visit Pass (Spouse Pass)

3. Renew Long Term Social Visit Pass (Spouse Pass) Malaysia: Marrying A Malaysian Part 3: How To Extend Long Term Social Visit Pass (Spouse Pass) Malaysia

4. Renew Long Term Social Visit Pass (Spouse Pass) Malaysia (Updated August 2018): Marrying a Malaysian: Renewal of Long Term Social Visit Pass (LTSVP) Malaysia  - New Updates! (As at August 2018)

5. Applying For Permanent Residency (PR) In Malaysia: Marrying a Malaysian: Applying For Permanent Residency (PR) In Malaysia